23 May 2018 - - Singapore-based medical technology manufacturer Histoindex Pte. Ltd. is collaborating with CymaBay Therapeutics, Inc. to evaluate the efficacy of seladelpar in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-center Phase 2b study of 175 subjects with biopsy-confirmed nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), the company said.
Histoindex's stain-free Genesis200 multiphoton digital pathology system's novel imaging technology encompasses two-photon excitation and second harmonic generation, and works with computerised image analysis algorithms to scan unstained tissue samples from liver biopsies and quantify the NASH characteristics within.
The vivid high-resolution images generated are rich in histopathological data, which pathologists will be able to extract and analyse, for example, sub-micron-sized collagen fibers, which indicate the presence and severity of fibrosis in NASH.
Other features that are quantified include steatosis, hepatocyte ballooning, and lobular inflammation. Assessing the progressive or regressive changes to these quantified features is vital in determining the NASH therapeutic response of seladelpar.
HistoIndex, a spin-off company from the Institute of Biotechnology and Nanotechnology (IBN), Agency of Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), is involved in the research and development, manufacturing, and distribution of optical medical imaging equipment, as well as in the provision of related services, to aid pathologists in diagnostics for fibrosis and cancer. The company's focus is on the accurate assessment of NASH.
It is committed to enhancing the diagnosis of chronic liver conditions like NASH, and accelerating the development of effective treatments.